Page 16 of Dragged Home for Christmas

“Maybe the night will bring you some answers,” Jim suggested.

“Yeah.” Anthony flashed him a smile. “Let’s see what happens.”

Mike had a feeling he’d missed something important.

“How about a nightcap?” Ashley held up the bottle. “Seeing as I froze my ass off retrieving it.”

Mike cracked the seal, and poured whiskey into six glasses.

“What should we drink to?” Elliott asked.

Before Mike could open his mouth, Sam got in first. “To Nick. May he rest in peace.” The others murmured hiswords.

“And wherever he is, I hope he looks fabulous,” Jim muttered.

Mike blinked. “To Uncle Nick.”

Fabulous?

Chapter 7

Nick’s bedroom wasn’t in the main building, but in an annex behind the hotel, connected by a walkway and an open wooden staircase that acted as the fire escape, accessed from the second floor. The others had rooms in the main block.

“I guess Nick wanted a little privacy,” Mike commented as he closed the door. “Although I wouldn’t want to cross that walkway in a strong wind. I’d take off, and you’d probably find me in the ocean.”

Ashley sat on the bed, giving an experimental bounce. “So it’s Nick now?”

Mike smiled. “I think I’m a little old to be referring to him as uncle, don’t you?”

“You have a point.” She nodded toward the door. “And as for privacy, how do you know one of them wasn’t in here, supplying him with… warmth? Hey, maybe they all were.”

He opened his mouth to refute the idea, but then closed it.

I know nothing about his life here. She could be right.

He glanced at the room. It was a large space, with a king-size bed, two nightstands, a chest of drawers, a full-length free-standing mirror, and a wall of closets. On impulse, he opened one of the closets, to find clothing he recognized instantly. He smiled when he saw a long, thick trench coat hanging there.

That was all it took for the memories to come flooding back.

“One Christmas when I was little, Nick and I were out in the back yard, building a snowman. I complained of beingcold, so Nick opened his coat, pulled me close, and wrapped it around me. When I was warm again, we carried on with our construction.”

Ashley got up from the bed and wandered over to the second closet. She opened it, stood there for a moment, then took a step back. “So tell me, Mike… When did Nick wear any of theseensembles?”

He peered around the door and his jaw dropped.

Hanging from the rails were dresses. Sparkly dresses, covered in sequins, with side splits, in red, blue, gold, and even rainbow hues. To the right were several racks containing brightly-colored high-heeled shoes, some of them as high as four or five inches. Above the racks was a single shelf, on which sat a mannequin head—

Wearing a wig of glossy blue and purple locks.

“I guess anyonewouldlook fabulous in any one of those outfits.”

He jerked his head in her direction. “What are you suggesting? You don’t think these belonged to Nick?”

“Why not? What’s wrong with him doing drag?”

“He was sixty when he died,” Mike remonstrated.

“So?”